Investigation of the impact of gut microbiotas on fertility of stored sperm by types of hens

Abstract

Owing to the practical interest in understanding duration of fertility ( DF ) to reduce the cost of producing hatching eggs by decreasing the frequency of artificial insemination, as well to uncover the mechanism of the estrogen-gut microbiome axis, elucidating the interaction between the maternal microbiome and the function of sperm storage tubules ( SST ) has become important for revealing the DF in laying hens. In this study, we investigated the compositional, structural, and functional differences in gut microbiomes between hens with high (HSST, n = 8) and low SST activity (LSST, n = 10) by performing phenotypic selection from approximately 400 individual hens based on their DFs. Their cecal microbial communities were analyzed by sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. The microbiome abundance estimators from the ceca of HSST and LSST hens were not significantly different at the phylum and genus taxonomic levels, although the relative abundances for the phylum Firmicutes and the genus Lactobacillus were higher in the HSST group. Furthermore, some taxonomic levels of bacteria expressing the components of several metabolic pathways differed between the HSST and LSST groups. Moreover, predicting functional microbiomes by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes ( KEGG ) revealed that certain pathways, such as the metabolism of carbohydrates and protein, cellular processes, and organismal systems, of the HSST group exhibited higher expression of genes associated with bioactivity and energy biosynthesis than those in the LSST group. Our results may provide insights into hen-microbe interactions with respect to DF and will be useful in establishing a strategy for new research to uncover the functional regulation of SST in laying hens.

Ethoxyquin attenuates enteric oxidative stress and inflammation by promoting cytokine expressions and symbiotic microbiota in heat-stressed broilers

“…Through a symbiotic relationship with the host, bacteria can produce essential amino acids and vitamins and regulate digestion to shape host health and function. In poultry research, the pattern diversity of gut microbiome communities has been used as a novel molecular marker to explore the microbiome associated with candidate performance, including weight gain ( Elokil et al, 2022 ), egg production ( Elokil et al, 2020a ), immunity ( Elokil et al, 2020c ), and fertility ( Elokil et al, 2020b ).…”

Early life microbiota transplantation from highly feed-efficient broiler improved weight gain by reshaping the gut microbiota in laying chicken

“…Additionally, gut microbiota secures the permeability of the intestinal mucosa and regulates the fermentation and absorption of dietary nutrients, which may explain the microbiota importance in the regulation of energy and growth activities (Sonnenburg and Bäckhed, 2016). In our previous studies, we investigated some factors that affect gut microbiota development in chicken, including performance type (Elokil et al, 2020a), medicine (Elokil et al, 2020b), fertility (Elokil et al, 2020a), and diet (Abouelezz et al, 2019). The FMT has been reported as the most effective way for whole microbial community changes, whereas probiotic and antibiotic tools usually alter up to three orders of the 100 trillion native microorganisms of the gut (Borody and Khoruts, 2012;Cammarota et al, 2014).…”

Microbial composition of egg component and its association with hatchability of laying hens

“…Previous research confirmed the presence of microorganisms in the maternal reproductive tract and digestive tracts of 1-day-old chicks ( Pajurek et al, 2019 ; Zhou et al, 2021 ). Several studies have shown that hen gut and fecal microbes are associated with both egg formation and fertility ( Elokil et al, 2020a , b ). This suggests that microbes may have an effect on the reproductive traits or eggs of the hens.…”